After four years of litigation, NBC Universal, Fox Broadcasting Company and several major production companies have agreed to settle a class action lawsuit involving premium text message promotions run during the popular competitive reality shows 'American Idol' and 'Deal or No Deal.' Read more.
September 16, 2011
The rise of eReader devices and eReader marketplaces provides more and more opportunities for online self-publishers. While these technologies have given a myriad of authors the joy and remuneration of publishing their work, they have also led to modern abuses – abuses that affect intellectual property owners and consumers alike. Read more.
August 31, 2011
A California district court has entered a $4.8 million judgment against Swish Marketing, Inc., an online direct marketing company, for deceptive marketing practices involving use of a negative option feature, in which a consumer’s silence or failure to reject an offer is interpreted by the seller as acceptance. Read more.
August 2, 2011
During a special session held on Monday, June 20, 2011 in Singapore, the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers voted to dramatically increase the number of top level domains available on the Internet. Read more.
July 21, 2011
New York's highest court has held that a plaintiff’s claim against a blog operator arising out of allegedly defamatory comments posted to the blog was barred by the "Communications Decency Act". This is the first time the New York Court of Appeals has ruled on a CDA defense. Read more.
July 21, 2011
In what may be the first regulatory action against the daily deal giant, Groupon, the Connecticut Attorney General has just announced that he has requested information from the company regarding its consumer discount vouchers, or “Groupons”. Read more.
July 15, 2011
An Indiana federal court has ruled that the Indiana right of publicity statute, which has the longest post-mortem period of continuing the right of publicity, does not apply to personalities who died before 1994, the year the statute was enacted. Read more.
July 11, 2011
An Indiana federal court has ruled that the Indiana right of publicity statute, which has the longest post-mortem period of continuing the right of publicity, does not apply to personalities who died before 1994, the year the statute was enacted. Read more.
July 11, 2011
The Children's Advertising Review Unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. recently recommended that Paramount Pictures Corp. modify or discontinue a television commercial for the film, "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never". CARU said that the commercial was misleading to children. Read more.
June 30, 2011
Advertising agency Action Integrated Marketing recently entered into a settlement agreement with ten attorneys general, resolving allegations that the advertising agency created advertisements that misled consumers about the origins of cars that it was advertising. Read more.
June 13, 2011
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced that it reached a settlement with a consumer who provided an allegedly false testimonial in an infomercial for the "wealth-building" program "Winning in the Cash Flow Business". Read more.
June 3, 2011
The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") announced yesterday that it is updating "Dot Com Disclosures: Information about Online Advertising," its guidance document that advises businesses on how federal advertising law applies to advertising and sales on the Internet. The current "Dot Com Disclosures" guidance is available here. The FTC announced that it is seeking public comment about how its guidance should be modified to reflect the dramatic changes in the online world since the "Dot Com Disclosures" guidance was first published in 2000. Comments are due by July 11, 2011. Read more.
May 27, 2011
Facebook has once again revised its "Promotions Guidelines". Effective May 11, 2011, the revisions place further restrictions on advertiser use of Facebook intellectual property: advertisers are now permitted to use Facebook’s name and trademarks only “in connection with a promotion or to mention Facebook in the rules or materials relating to a promotion” to fulfill the obligations placed on the advertiser by Facebook in its "Promotion Guidelines". Read more.
May 17, 2011
The Federal Trade Commission recently released the results of an undercover shopper survey regarding retailers' enforcement of entertainment ratings aimed at protecting children. Teenagers hired by the FTC visited national and regional chains in the United States and attempted to buy R-rated movie tickets, R-rated movie DVDs, unrated DVDs of movies, music CDs carrying a "Parental Advisory Label", and video games rated "M." Read more.
May 9, 2011
In a groundbreaking effort to combat childhood obesity, the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture worked together to release a set of proposed voluntary principles for public comment. Read more.
May 9, 2011
Data security breaches are in the news, and companies that experience them are suffering loss of consumer confidence. If your business model requires you to collect personal consumer data, you may want to hear about a recent federal case that makes it much easier for consumers to sue companies for data security breaches. Read more.
May 4, 2011
The Federal Trade Commission announced last week that Electric Mobile Corporation, the manufacturer of "Rascal Scooters", used by disabled and senior consumers, and its owner, will pay $100,000 to settle FTC charges that it illegally called millions of consumers who had listed their phone numbers on the national "Do Not Call Registry". Read more.
April 28, 2011
Recently, the United States Department of Transportation announced new rules that will bring sweeping changes to airline advertising in the United States. The final rules will be effective later this year. Read more.
April 25, 2011
The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") announced today that it filed lawsuits against ten marketers, alleging that they used fake news websites to market their acai berry weight-loss products. The FTC is seeking court orders to halt the advertising and freeze the defendants’ assets pending trial. Read more.
April 19, 2011
An online retailer has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the agency’s "Appliance Labeling Rule". The FTC alleged that the retailer, Universal Appliances, Kitchens, and Baths, Inc., failed to post on its website required EnergyGuide information. Read more.
April 18, 2011
Senators John Kerry and John McCain introduced a privacy bill this week that seeks to provide consumers with more transparency and control regarding the collection, use, storage, and transfer of their personal information.The bill – in its infancy and likely to face opposition – does not require changes in privacy practices unless and until it is enacted. But with bipartisan backing, it’s a privacy bill that could pass. Here’s a summary. Read more.
April 15, 2011
The Federal Communications Commission recently issued "Notices of Apparent Liability" against two television stations for allegedly airing news segments produced and supplied by advertisers, without disclosing that the segments were advertiser-supported. Read more.
April 11, 2011
The Mobile Marketing Association recently issued a revision of its "U.S. Consumer Best Practices." While the practices do not have the force of law, many leading advertisers follow them, and the mobile carriers require compliance for programs run on their networks. Read more.
April 8, 2011
Google Inc. has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it engaged in deceptive tactics and violated its own privacy pledges to consumers during the 2010 launch of its social network, "Google Buzz". Read more.
March 31, 2011
The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand a ruling with important implications for advertisers of adult and other potentially lewd products. By refusing to hear an appeal in the closely watched Victoria's Secret Catalogue Inc. v. Mosley case, the U.S. Supreme Court indirectly endorsed an earlier decision from the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit that made it easier for so-called "tarnishment" claims to succeed when the challenged mark was used in a "sex related" context. Read more.
March 30, 2011
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